Creature vs. Creature: A Gator's Take on a Bulldog Beating in Jacksonville

(Photo by Rick Dole/Getty Images)

Florida Feature Columnist Trey Jones clinks cocktail glasses with Georgia Feature Columnist Isaac Scheidt and offers his slant on what it will take for the Gators to come out on top in Jacksonville.

Isaac's excellent thoughts on this party can be found here.

First, let’s state the obvious—even though the Florida/Georgia game has lost a bit of national luster over the last 18 years or so, it’s still the premier grudge-fest for both of these teams.   

Sure, Florida State, Georgia Tech, and Auburn boil the blood of the Gators and the Bulldogs but nothing really compares to the hype, hatred, and pageantry of what was formerly known as “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”.

This season there’s much more at stake than just bragging rights.

For the Gators, winning cleanly over head coach Mark Richt and his Georgia Bulldogs is a necessity if they want to keep their lead in the SEC east and top BCS ranking intact. 

Richt’s Bulldogs, tagged with two conference losses already, find themselves once again in the all too familiar role of spoiler.

But there are greater implications at work here.

Florida is preparing to undergo one of the most drastic losses in leadership and talent ever seen in the SEC.  A win over Georgia is crucial when attempting to gain the attention of much needed four and five star high school talent in the tri-state area. 

For Georgia, another loss to Florida is not only a battlefield defeat in the recruiting war but also a blow to the perception of Bulldog coaching competence.

This contest has never favored the desperate.  Florida may be looking for improvement and playing ugly but they are undefeated and winning games with grit.  Georgia, hopes dashed with midseason losses and an offensive identity crisis of their own, could find themselves seduced into creating a game day strategy of hope.

For Georgia “GD” doesn’t mean Go Dawgs it means Gator Defense.

Five games into the SEC schedule and Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong and his Gator squad have accepted the fact that there can be no margin for error this season.

Now tasked with supporting an offense with significant production and turnover issues, Strong’s defense has stepped up to the challenge and successfully kept opponents out of the end zone and off the field.

On Saturday, Georgia will face a top ranked defense that allows fewer than 230 total yards and less than 11 points per game.   The Dawgs, owners of the 103^rd ranked rushing attack, face the prospect of having to force a passing game in front of one of the fastest defensive backfields in the nation.

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